Happy Saint Patrick's Day from the Volunteers of Ireland!

The Volunteers of Ireland wish a Great and Glorious Saint Patrick's Day and take this opportunity to share with you their War-Song, first sung in the year of our Lord 1780 by Barny Tompson, piper to the Volunteers of Ireland.

"Success to the Shamrogue"

SUCCESS to the shamrogue, and all those who wear it,
Be honour their portion wherever they go,
May riches attend them, and store of good claret,
For how to employ them sure none better know;
Every foe surveys them with terror,
But every silk petticoat wishes them nearer,
So Yankee keep off, or you’ll soon learn your error,
For Paddy shall prostrate lay ev’ry foe.

This day, (but the year I can’t rightly determine)
St. Patrick the vipers did chase from this land,
Let’s see if like him we can’t sweep off the vermin
Who dare ‘gainst the sons of the shamrogue to stand;
Hand in hand! let’s carrol this chorus,
   “As long as the blessings of Ireland hang o’er us,
   “The crest of rebellion shall tremble before us,
   “Like brothers while thus we march hand in hand!”

St. George & St. Patrick, St. Andrew, St. David,
Together may laugh at all Europe in arms,
Fair conquest her standard has o’er their heads waved
And glory has on them conferr’d all her charms!
War’s alarms! to us are a pleasure,
Since honour our danger repays in full measure,
And all those who join us shall find we have leisure,
To think of our sport ev’n in war’s alarms!

Text of this song graciously made available by the Loyalist Institute at http://royalprovincial.com/history/music/voisong.shtml


A post about the uniform and history of the Volunteers of Ireland will be forthcoming

Mr. Edmund Bentley

This figure is painted up as Edmund Bentley, a Philadelphia Loyalist who appears in the Christian movie Beyond the Mask.  Beyond the Mask is set in the world of the 1770s as tumult and war erupt in Great Britain’s North American colonies.  Mr. Bentley works for Ben Franklin before he is fired for incompetence.  He then joins a group of Loyalists who are working for Charles Kemp against the American rebels.  Mr. Bentley appears to be an assistant to the Loyalist leader Mr. Richard Harrison.  This figure recreates one of his outfits.  To learn more about the movie, visit www.BeyondTheMaskMovie.com

The original figure was made by Marx as a character figure of Johnny Tremain in the 1950s.  Thankfully this figure was recast in the 2000s so that I could acquire one.   

 

Edmund Bentley (left) and Richard Harrison (right)

This outfit is worn by Mr. Edmund Bentley when he meets Charles Kemp, the Director of the East India Company.  It consists of a cream-colored waistcoat and light blue breeches. In the movie he also wears a brown coat with this outfit.  However, because he is often seen in a brown waistcoat without a coat, it seems reasonable to assume that he wore his cream-colored waistcoat without a coat sometimes.   He was the first figure that I painted with a grey tricorne hat.

 

Mr. Richard Harrison

This figure is painted up as Richard Harrison, a local Loyalist leader who appears in the Christian movie Beyond the Mask.  Beyond the Mask is set in the world of the 1770s as tumult and war erupt in Great Britain’s North American colonies.  Mr. Harrison has no love for the rebels and recruits his friends to harass them and keep Philadelphia loyal to King George III.  This figure recreates one of his outfits.  To learn more about the movie, visit www.BeyondTheMaskMovie.com



The figure on the left is the original pose that eventually
became Mr. Harrison

The original figure was made by Accurate as a militiaman standing firing musket and required heavy conversion to become Mr. Harrison.  First I cut his musket away, then cut and repositioned his arm that was originally pulling the musket’s trigger.  I bent his other arm down by holding it under hot water and bending it until it had reached the desired pose.  Then I added a pistol from another Accurate figure and with a little sculpting (including adding a pair of boots), the figure was complete.

This outfit is worn by Mr. Richard Harrison when he is confronted by the rebel vigilante William Reynolds.  It consists of a matching set of tan waistcoat and breeches with a grey overcoat worn on top.  He carries a pistol in several scenes.  The original figure wore the cartridge box and powder horn and I left them so that Mr. Harrison can reload his pistol.  His hair was interesting and enjoyable to paint because it is sandy with streaks of grey.